Health insurance makes up 8% of total employee compensation on average, and while most employees take up health insurance when it is offered, lower-wage workers are far less likely to be able to access coverage, according to an analysis on the costs, availability, and take-up of health benefits for workers with lower wages. The analysis uses survey data and information from focus groups discussions with more than 100 U.S. employers with over a quarter of a million employees.
About three in four employees are offered health insurance on average, and nearly two-thirds of those offered insurance enroll in the benefit. Workers in occupations with lower wages, such as service occupations, are much less likely to have access to health benefits at their jobs (94% of workers in higher-wage jobs vs. 44% in lower-wage jobs) and, even when they do, they are much less likely to enroll (72% vs. 49%).
The analysis of part of the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, an online information hub dedicated to monitoring and assessing the performance of the U.S. health system.
